Debra Li

debra_lidan@163.com

A GROUP of aspiring authors, chosen out of nearly 100 from around China who submitted their creative writing works to a government-subsidized writer-fostering camp, gathered with their tutors at a brief ceremony Thursday in Nanshan District to mark the opening of the program.

The lucky 42 will sit through lectures given by 10 established authors, literature critics and literary journal editors in the weeklong first phase of the program, and have their works revised with the help of authors — among them Yi Zhou, Yang Zhengguang and Zhang Yanling — in the second phase.

Endorsed by renowned Chinese literary journals, including Renmin Wenxue (People’s Literature), Zhongguo Zuojia (Chinese Writers), Beijing Wenxue (Beijing Literature), Jiangnan Magazine and Zuopin (Works), the Shenzhen City Creative Writing Camp enlists potential young writers with new works in categories of city life-themed short stories, poetry and prose with specific themes. Organizers also promised to help the writers to sell the copyrights of their works to production companies so that the works could be made into movies, TV shows and stage works.

Yang, a novelist and playwright known for movie scripts such as “The Swordsman in Double-Flag Town” and novels including “Laodan Is a Tree” (adapted into French movie “How Harry Became a Tree”), said at the opening ceremony that he wishes this camp can serve as a platform for aspiring writers to get feedbacks from established authors and critics as well as their peers, hone their skills and improve their works.

Although in Yang’s opinion a good writer cannot actually be taught, there are certain techniques and ways to find one’s own unique voice that established authors can share with aspiring writers.

Tutor Shi Yining, an author from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region known for his prose and literary criticism, said each writer needs to explore the width and profoundness of one’s world and era, while firmly rooted in a keen authentic and personal experience. “Then, time will be the judge of your work,” he told the trainees.

Zhuang Zeyuan, a trainee from the neighboring city Zhuhai, said he was most impressed by Shi’s suggestions, who warned against dwelling on seemingly easy subjects such as one’s hometown and past memories. “These subjects take time and retrospection to process, and young authors, with their keen sentimentality, need to embrace life in the ‘now’ and bravely write about it. With their untainted imagination and creativity, fantasy and future can be good directions for young authors to explore,” Shi said.

This is the fourth consecutive year that such a writing camp has been organized in Shenzhen, said Yu Aicheng, vice chairman of Shenzhen Writers’ Association and executive director of the project.

“More than 20 novels, short stories and other forms of literary works of past trainees have been published in literary journals,” he said. “Hopefully, we will see more quality works being accepted for publication from among the trainees of this year’s camp.”